Fast Women: Bella Whittaker steals the show

Lemngole, Nielsen, Paige, McCabe, and BYU earn national titles.

Mar 17, 2025

Arkansas’ Bella Whittaker reacts to running 49.24 in the 400m. *(Photo by Shawn Price)*

Running alone, Bella Whittaker sets an American record in the NCAA 400m final

I love following the NCAA, because it’s a great introduction to many of the stars of the future. But in the sprints, especially, it’s more like the stars of the present. And one who is shining bright this season is Arkansas’ Bella Whittaker. Whittaker, 23, amassed an impressive resume over the past four years at the University of Pennsylvania. She finished fifth at last spring’s NCAA Outdoor Championships, sixth at the USATF Outdoor Championships, and made the U.S. Olympic team as part of the relay pool.

Whittaker graduated from Penn last spring and opted to use her remaining eligibility at the University of Arkansas, which has helped put her on a new level this year. She now trains alongside some of the world’s best sprinters, including Britton Wilson, who held the American, collegiate, and Arkansas indoor records until Whittaker broke them at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Saturday.

Because the NCAA 400m is run as a two-heat final indoors, Whittaker was racing an invisible opponent in the first heat. She left nothing to chance, keeping her foot on the gas the whole way. She crossed the line in 49.24 seconds, only 0.07 seconds off of the world record Femke Bol set last year. Whittaker is now the second-fastest woman ever in the event.

While it helps to have a target to chase, Whittaker may have benefitted from being in a separate heat. In the second heat, Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler hit 200m in 23.12, with Auburn’s Vimbyi Maisvorewa splitting 23.73. Whittaker, on the other hand, split 23.81. So being in her own heat meant that she could run her own race, and she didn’t have to worry about getting around her competitors on the final lap. Butler, who ran 49.97 seconds, had the second-fastest time of the day.

Despite the fact that her legs were feeling terrible, Whittaker returned to anchor her team to a win in the 4x400m relay, splitting 49.71. Her sister, Juliette Whittaker, referred to this meet as Bella’s last collegiate race ever, so I will trust that that’s the case, which makes her success all the more rewarding. (400m results | 400m replay | 4x400m relay replay)

Doris Lemngole fights off Lexy Halladay-Lowry to win her third NCAA title

At NCAA indoors last year, Parker Valby took the 5,000m final out in 9:03 for the first 3K and only Taylor Roe attempted to go with her. This year, Amy Bunnage went out in 9:02, and she had nine runners right behind her. That kind of sums up the difference in the NCAA between last year and this year. There’s so much more depth.

Shortly after leading through 3K, Bunnage, whose right knee was taped, pulled over and limped off the track. The race was not the same without her, as no one wanted to lead. The pace slowed, and the race became tactical. The nine-runner pack remained intact until about 500m to go, after BYU’s Lexy Halladay-Lowry began pushing the pace. Only Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei, and NAU’s Elise Stearns managed to stick with her.

Lemngole took charge of the race with one lap to go, and it quickly became a two-woman battle with Halladay-Lowry, who put up a good fight. In the homestretch, Lemngole had another gear, and she won, 15:05.93 to 15:06.17. Kosgei took third (15:07.57) and Stearns, who Dwight Stones repeatedly misidentified as Ali Upshaw, finished fourth (15:08.07).

The rest of the field finished close behind, and the All-American (top eight) cutoff of 15:11.89 was easily the fastest it has ever been. (That’s easy to fact check because the collegiate record was 15:12 until December, 2023.)

Lemngole, 23, won her first NCAA title in the steeplechase last spring. She followed that up with a cross country win in November, and now she has one win for each of the three seasons. Halladay-Lowry has been one of the top collegiate runners for several years, but this was her highest finish yet. (5,000m results)

BYU repeats in the distance medley relay

Last year, BYU pulled off a surprise win in the distance medley relay at NCAA Indoors, but this year they came in as the favorite. On the anchor leg, Oregon’s Şilan Ayyildiz got the baton with a 2.75-second lead, while BYU’s Riley Chamberlain was in fourth, 3.91 seconds back. Chamberlain had two advantages, though: Unlike Ayyildiz, who had already run the mile prelims, she was running her first race of the day. And with Providence’s Kimberley May in front of her, Chamberlain had someone to help her close the gap.

With about 550m to go, the chase pack caught Ayyildiz, and Chamberlain carried BYU to another win, in 10:45.34. Ayyildiz fought back well and held on to second for Oregon (10:45.99), and May helped Providence take third in 10:46.28. Chamberlain had the fastest 1600m split of the day, running 4:25.12.

No one was faster on the final two legs than LSU. It would have been understandable if Michaela Rose, one of the 800m favorites, sat this one out. But instead, she returned about an hour after the 800m prelims and split 2:01.70, the fastest split on the 800m leg by far. And Lorena Rangel Batres, doubling back from the mile prelims (which allowed for a little more rest), anchored the team in 4:25.98, the second-fastest split of the day. She brought LSU home in fourth (10:47.17).

Jenna Hutchins, who normally races longer distances, ran the opening 1200m leg for BYU, splitting 3:21.61. She handed off to Sami Oblad, who ran the 400m leg in 52.10 seconds, the fastest split of the event. And Tessa Buswell split 2:06.52 on the 800m leg. Both Chamberlain and Oblad were members of BYU’s winning DMR in 2024 as well. BYU strategically went into this event with everyone except Oblad running fresh, whereas Oregon’s 1200m and mile legs were both doubling back. (DMR results)

Between Euros and Worlds, Wilma Nielsen wins the NCAA mile

In the end, the NCAA indoor mile rewarded those who stayed on the rail and stayed out of traffic. For Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen, that meant running up front the whole way, and for Princeton’s Mena Scatchard, that meant being in last place most of the way. For everyone in between, the race resembled a roller derby match at times.

Oregon’s Şilan Ayyildiz led the race through 800m in a leisurely (for her) 2:23.52, with Nielsen right behind. Things didn’t really get going until 400m to go, and because Nielsen led the race at that point, she got a jump on the field. She covered her last 400m in 60.15 seconds and won comfortably in 4:32.40.

Scatchard remained in last place until about 200m to go, when she moved out and gradually passed almost everyone in the field. (Her last 400m was a 59.76, and her last 200m was a 28.51.) She nipped NAU’s Maggi Congdon at the line to take second, 4:32.87 to 4:32.88. This was an event where it felt like just about any of the finalists had a shot at the win, and Scatchard proved that point by going in ranked 14th out of 16 competitors and coming close to a win. Ayyildiz, the collegiate record holder, finished fourth in 4:33.98.

Nielsen, 23, began her collegiate career at Bradley University. She spent last year at the University of Washington before transferring again, to Oregon, at the start of the current academic year.

Some collegiate coaches might limit their athletes’ non-NCAA racing opportunities mid-season, but to Oregon’s credit, they let Nielsen travel to the Netherlands to represent Sweden in the 800m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships one week prior to NCAAs. (She says because she’s young and not particularly tall, she can sleep anywhere.) Nielsen fell across the line in the semifinal last week and missed advancing to the final by 0.02 seconds. Now she’s off to China to race the 800m at World indoors this Friday. I wish someone had asked her how she makes the education part of college work with her recent travel schedule. (Mile results | Mile replay)

Makayla Paige *(Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics)*

Makayla Paige surprises in the 800m

There’s so much pressure on the top collegiate athletes, especially those whose teams are in contention to win. And it’s easy to forget how young they are. In the first heat of the 800m prelims, Arkansas’ Sanu Jallow-Lockhart did something that many of us of all ages and speeds have done: She went out too quickly. She hit 200m in 27.09 seconds and split 56.72 for 400m. And things got tough from there.

All of her competitors had the presence of mind and pace awareness to let her go. They caught her with 150m to go, and she faded to fifth and did not advance. In the same heat, BYU’s Meghan Hunter, who missed the Big 12 Championships, fought hard but never quite made her way to the front of the race.

And in the next heat, Juliette Whittaker, last year’s NCAA 800m champion indoors and out, was in a qualifying spot with a lap to go, but she faded over the final 100m and missed out on advancing by 0.21 seconds. This sport can be unforgiving, and the 800m heats were especially so, with the top three seeds not advancing.

Even without them, there were still two past NCAA 800m champions—Stanford’s Roisin Willis and LSU’s Michaela Rose—in the race. But it was a relatively unheralded runner, UNC senior Makayla Paige, 21, who came away with the win. Paige went in seeded fifth, but most recently, she finished only third in a strong field at the ACC championships. She said afterward that at ACCs, she hung back too much and let people run her race for her, but she tried to learn from that.

To that end, Paige put herself at the front of the race from the start, where she could theoretically stay out of traffic. But one lap into the race, someone clipped her from behind. She took a big stumble, but thanks to a combination of athleticism and sheer will, she managed to stay on her feet.

Harvard’s Victoria Bossong challenged her on the final lap, but Paige fought her off and went on to win in a personal best of 2:00.39. Paige was making her first appearance at NCAA indoors, but she ran with the poise of a veteran. While she said she had the confidence she could do something like this, she also looked a little stunned post-race.

Bossong, a senior, also had a big day, finishing second in 2:00.93. She, too, was making her first appearance at this meet, after watching from the stands when the meet was held in Boston last year. She was more of a sprinter when she arrived at Harvard, and she started focusing on the 800m only last year, but her trajectory in the event has been impressive. Willis finished third in 2:01.00, and Rose took fourth in 2:02.19. (800m results | 800m replay)

Ceili McCabe wins the NCAA 3,000m title. *(Photo by Austin Petska/WVU Athletics)*

Ceili McCabe earns a long-awaited NCAA title

West Virginia University’s Ceili McCabe, 23, has been in the NCAA since the fall of 2019. Heading into Saturday’s 3,000m final, she had earned All-America honors nine times. She had finished third at a national championship three times, but it was beginning to look like she might finish out her eligibility without winning a national title.

She had one advantage over everyone else in the 3,000m field: She was the only runner who went into the race fresh, without running another event earlier in the two-day meet. She also ran a smart race.

Early on, the field went from 16 to 15 when someone signaled to Şilan Ayyildiz that Oregon had wrapped up the team title, so they no longer needed any points from her. She happily exited the race less than 200m in.

After that, the field remained tightly packed until the kick. I was surprised to see Amy Bunnage return for the 3,000m, after she appeared to be injured during the 5,000m the previous day. The ESPN broadcasters said that per her coach, she had been dealing with some cramping the day before. (She was injured early in the cross country season, but she returned in time to finish fourth at NCAAs.) She did some of the leading here, but ultimately faded to 14th.

McCabe moved to the lead with 800m to go, and over the final three laps, she gradually squeezed down the pace, with the advantage of already being in a good spot when the serious kicking began. Only Doris Lemngole and Pamela Kosgei were able to go with McCabe, and neither was able to run her down. McCabe won in 9:01.18, Lemngole took second (9:01.64), and Kosgei sadly got tripped up in the homestretch and went down hard enough that she bounced when she hit the track. She got up quickly, but the field was so close together that she finished 11th, which was not reflective of how well she ran most of the way.

McCabe and Lemngole will likely meet again outdoors, where they both run the steeplechase. (3,000m results | 3,000m replay)

Other NCAA Indoor Notes

Oregon’s team title was its first since the 2016–17 academic year, when the women swept the cross country, indoor, and outdoor championships. They scored 55 points, well ahead of runner-up Georgia’s 39.
I thought Bella Whittaker’s post-400m interview was one of the best of the weekend. And commenting on her sister Juliette’s challenging meet, she said, “She’s tough. She’ll be fine. She can’t be expected to be 100 percent all the time… She’s good, she’ll be back, and she’ll be ready.” I enjoyed the episode of the Blue Oval Podcast that they did together last week.
Also on the Blue Oval Podcast last week, Washington’s Amina Maatoug briefly discussed the fact that she was observing Ramadan leading up to NCAA indoors. She said this is the first time she has fasted from sunrise to sunset leading up to the meet, because in the past, Ramadan has been later in the year. She finished fifth in the mile and about an hour later, she took fourth in the 3,000m.
NC State’s Grace Hartman said in a post-race interview that she has been dealing with a bronchial infection that has affected her for the last three weeks. She still finished sixth in the 5,000m and then fifth in the 3,000m.
At the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall, only two U.S. athletes finished in the top 10. It’s hard to compare one to the other, but I’d say the U.S. distance athletes had a better showing in Virginia Beach. In the 5,000m, they took five of the top eight spots. In the 3,000m, they took four of the top eight spots, and in the mile they took three of the top eight spots.
Many athletes tend to avoid leading distance races, because it’s easier to be the hunter than the hunted. But at this meet, several athletes were rewarded for controlling their races from the front. Whether or not anyone’s tactics worked out as they hoped, the NCAA offers a great opportunity for athletes to learn how to be better racers.

Additional Results

Sharon Lokedi dominated the NYC Half Marathon, winning in an event record of 1:07:04. For the first time in a New York Road Runners event, the new course went over the Brooklyn Bridge, which apparently made it a bit faster. Lokedi, who will run the Boston Marathon next month, took off in the 10th mile and won by 42 seconds. Running her first race since the injury that took her out of the Olympic marathon, Puma Elite’s Fiona O’Keeffe made a strong return, finishing second in a near PR of 1:07:46. And Great Britain’s Calli Hauger-Thackery, who is also running Boston, took third in 1:07:49. The race produced a number of quick times, and you can see the results of the pro race here. Switzerland’s Manuela Schar won the wheelchair race in 54:09.
It was also high school nationals weekend, and Utah senior Jane Hedengren continued her string of mind-blowing performances. On Thursday, at Nike Indoor Nationals in New York, she set a U.S. high school and American U20 record of 15:13.26 in the 5,000m, despite leading most of the way and going around lapped runners. She helped pull California’s Rylee Blade to a runner-up finish in 15:16.72. And three days later, Hedengren, who was making the most of racing at sea level, soloed a high school mile record of 4:26.14. (She won by 14+ seconds.) Those are some college-like times. Beginning next fall, she will be running for BYU. (Results)
At New Balance Nationals Indoor, Michigan’s Emmry Ross, who is headed to the University of Michigan in the fall, won the 800m in an impressive 2:03.00. (Results)
At the NCAA DII indoor championships in Indianapolis, Stanislaus State’s Annie Wild won the mile (4:40.62), CSU Pueblo’s Helen Braybrook won the 800m (2:04.72), Colorado School of Mines’ Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge won the 5,000m (16:03.45), and Grand Valley State’s Lauren Kiley won the 3,000m (9:26.14). (Results)
At the NCAA DIII indoor championships, held on a flat track in Rochester, New York, Wilmington College’s Faith Duncan won the 5,000m (16:31.42) and 3,000m (9:22.45). Elizabethtown’s Kelty Oaster won the 800m (2:07.70), and Vassar’s Haley Schoenegge won the mile (4:47.04). (Results)
The outcome was decided late at the LA Marathon, and Ethiopia’s Tejinesh Gebisa Tulu won in 2:30:16, Kenya’s Antonina Kwambai took second in 2:30:20, and Savannah Berry finished third in 2:30:32. (Results)
At the Irish Masters Championships on March 8, Great Britain’s Clare Elms, 61, ran 10:43.34, a world indoor 3,000m record for the 60–64 age group.

Clarification: Last week, I repeated what the commentators and other members of the media were saying—that Sarah Healy was the first Irish woman to win gold at the European Indoor Championships. Thank you to the reader who pointed out that one day earlier, Ireland’s Orla Comerford won gold in the mixed Para Athletics 60m race, which was a new addition to the program. It’s not reflected in the official medal tally, so maybe it was an exhibition event, but it seems worth noting either way.

Podcast Highlights

I loved last week’s episode of Fast People, with Val Tobias. It’s interesting that as recently as the start of the indoor season, she was still deciding whether to represent the U.S. or Mexico. And I appreciated her response to Sarah Lorge Butler’s question about the current relationship between the two countries, which both mean a lot to her. It’s incredible that she brought her 800m time from 2:13 to 2:00 during the years she was at the University of Texas, and it was interesting to hear how much she struggled at Texas at first, given where she ended up. I loved hearing about her relationship with her former coach, Olympian PattiSue Plumer. Also, there was subtle debate about how she pronounces her name during the broadcast at USAs. Neither one is wrong, but Sarah used the one Val said she’s going to go with for now. Tomorrow we’ll have our first male guest: Mike Scannell, who coaches Olympic medalist and world record holder Grant Fisher.
I thought Gabby Thomas was excellent on the Networth and Chill podcast, and I appreciated how candidly she spoke about the financial side of the sport.
On the Ali on the Run Show, Keira D’Amato said that she is now training with Courtney Frerichs. (I already knew about Makenna Myler, Makena Morley, and Aubrey Frentheway.) I enjoyed the story of D’Amato having to advocate for herself in order to get bottle service at the 2018 Boston Marathon, and I love that she’s thinking about trying to break 4:30 in the mile. (According to this database, the American masters record in the mile is 4:45.68.)
Speaking of Frerichs, it was good to get more of an update on Unexpected Curves. She said she seriously considered retiring last summer, and that her big running goal is to make it to a starting line again.
Nikki Hiltz and Thomas recorded an episode of A Touch More with Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe at SXSW. Hiltz and Thomas join the show just past the 17:00 mark.
Weini Kelati was on the USATF Journey to Gold Zone Podcast. She just ran her third half marathon, and she said she thinks she’ll do one or two more before moving to the marathon. This was the first place I’ve heard her comment on what happened at the USATF Half Marathon Championships. The audio wasn’t great at that point but it sounded like she said there was an issue that’s been going on, and she has been struggling with it for two or three weeks. (You can listen to that part at the 21:00 mark.) But I definitely heard her correctly when she said it hasn’t taken her confidence away.
The latest episode of Nobody Asked Us has more details and context surrounding the 10,000m race Kara Goucher and Des Linden are putting on in May.

Additional Episodes: I really enjoyed getting an update from Alison Mariella Désir on NYRR’s Set the Pace podcast | Olivia Baker on the Lactic Acid Podcast | Australia’s Leanne Pompeani discussed her marathon debut on For the Kudos (Spiked Up #46) | Northwestern coach Jill Miller on The Gill Athletics Track & Field Connections Podcast

Whew. That was one of the busiest weekends of the year, and there was so much more I could have covered if I had more space.

As I mentioned, World Indoors starts on Friday morning in China, but that’s Thursday night in the U.S. You can find the schedule here. I haven’t come across the streaming/TV information yet, but I see all of the sessions listed in Peacock.

Thanks to all of you who support this newsletter via Venmo or Patreon. And even during the weeks when I don’t comment on the larger context in which all of the races in the U.S. take place, that context is still constantly on my mind. On that note, I hope you all have the best week possible.

Alison